Out Loud
by Great Heights
Summary: The group goes out for a run-of-the-mill mission except everything goes wrong. One gets left behind so the others can go on; three are seriously injured, physically and mentally; one is lost and the other left. What happened?


**Title:** Out Loud

**Summary:** The group goes out for a run-of-the-mill mission except everything goes wrong. One gets left behind so the others can go on; three are seriously injured, physically and mentally; one is lost and the other left. What happened?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any Animorph books/shows or else I wouldn't be writing this. I would be writing the book, dabnabit:

**Dedication:** To all the people who were/are as obsessed with Animorphs as I used to be.

**Jake**

It wasn't supposed to happen like that. It never was supposed to happen like that. Oh God, what happened?

It was out of control from the beginning. Ax……_God, Ax_…… he had found out, through Erek goddamn him, about a Yeerk pool nearby. It was just a developing one, and we had wanted to destroy the warehouse before they could construct it completely.

But we were wrong. We were so wrong.

They had completed building it. It was in total, complete. With Hork Bajir and Gedd guards. No problem, we thought. We needed to take down this new pool in the community, but we didn't know the costs. And none of us would have paid it if we had known.

We charged in, a tiger, bear, grizzly, andelite, hawk and wolf. Took down the guards and opened the warehouse doors. Only to find leagues of Taxxons, Hork Bajir, Gedds, Yeerks and, the one and only, Visser 3. Damn him! I'll kill him, I swear to god. He will wish he never dealt with us. With me. I'll kill him!

We took them on, stupidly confident. We, of course, we quickly driven back. All but Cassie. Cassie snapped off throats and growled and clawed her way into the oncoming force. Why? I guess I'll never know now….

I hear the flick of the tail before it struck. I remember screaming, Cassie, god, watch out! because the keen tiger eyes saw it all with perfect clarity. The smooth blade ending it deadly flight wedged between the gray wolf's shoulder blades.

I guess I would've heard Rachel's roars if I had not matched them with my own. Surprisingly, it was Marco who had barreled through and grabbed the limp wolf body. God, I can still picture it. She was so limp in his arm. It should've been me out there saving her. It should've been me taking blows and wounds the bled like a river. I've never seen so much blood, in all the two years. There was so much from Cassie and Marco….

Rachel, Ax, Tobias and I finally came to our senses. We attacked with such ferocity that couldn't be matched anywhere. We were still being beaten back.

((Prince Jake, we must leave. It's almost time to….))

((I KNOW, AX!)) I screamed at him. ((EVERYONE BACK. NOW. AND, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SOMEONE COVER MARCO!))

I barked some more things that I'm ashamed of. But it was so much blood.

Even with all of our efforts, we managed to loose her. Marco slipped on his own coursing blood, maybe Cassie's. He fell, she flew. She landed somewhere near the warehouse doors, and I raced after her.

Tssseeewww! Tssseeewww!

I was hit on the ribs. I've never felt anything like it. It was immediately painful, but it was exquisite pain. It was as if someone pressed a cube of dried ice against my side. Then it began to burn intensely. Still, the only thing in my fading vision was her bloody body.

((Prince Jake!)) I felt hands grab me and I black out.

**Ax**

I can remember it most unmistakably, even now.

Afterward, I mean. The glass was soft and almost dewing do to the late night. The trees smelt intensely of pine. The moonlight shone off of Marco's pale skin, obviously a terrible sign when being human. Apparently, when one turns pale, it means they've lost too much blood in their system.

There was a quite a lot of it, everywhere.

Rachel had dragged Marco out while I carried Prince Jake. Tobias did what he could before flying off. I have not seen him since.

Rachel daintily put Marco's body down before demorphing out herself. She gave me a rather pained look.

"Ax….."

((It's alright, Rachel. I can look after them for a while.))

She smiled thinly before walking off into the woods.

A little while later, Marco woke.

((Ax…..I'm demorphing. Make…..make sure I make it all the way…..so I wont be……beast boy….. )) Marco feebly tried at a joke. I knew he did not know of Cassie, yet.

((Yes, Marco. Be careful, please.))

It took a while for Marco to successfully demorph. The poor boy fainted immediately afterward. I morphed to a human when I took a thourough look at the place. We were in the middle of some sort of park. Public parks, as I assume, are public places. Meaning, people could be here. Better safe then sorry, Jake had said once. I wish we had taken that advice early that evening, after meditating on it.

Then Jake woke up. I watched him demorph, almost devastatingly. Then he spoke.

I will never forget that moment in my lifespan in five hundred years.

"Ax…….Aihxe……"

"Yes, Prince Jake?" even my own voice sounded tired to myself.

"Ih….ihshe…..ishe…..issss ssshhhheee…..?" Even through the slur, I knew what he was saying. 'Is she ok? Is she here? Is she alive?' I held on for a response. I was lost. I had wanted to say, 'Yes, Prince Jake. She is fine. She is waiting for you.' I had always told Prince Jake that before. They had always been fine before.

"No…..no……she isn't," my response was unusually crisp and articulate. There was no savoring in those words. They were the first words I did not enjoy saying. Despised saying. Terrible words such as that should never be uttered.

The pain was evident in his eyes before he fell unconscious again.

I looked up at the full moon and the clear night sky and mourned. Cassie. Dearest Cassie. Gone.

AN: fin. Next chapter preview:

"_What the hell were you thinking!"_

"_I…..I don't know….look, I'm sorry," I stammered out. I couldn't think of anything better._

"_Sorry! Sorry! Well…." Her voice dropped a little. She folded her arms across herself in a small hug. Her eyes couldn't meet mine. "….well, Marco, it's a little late for that. Just….just leave….."_

Don't worry, more will be explained!

_-lizbeth _


End file.
